‘We want to celebrate the incredible talent in Devon and Cornwall’
Spoken word poetry in A Way With Words by Beneath The Tracksuit’s Rpbert Gillett (pictured) will be part of The Plymouth Performance Festival(Image: Submitted)
Plymouth is to host a major one-day festival of theatre, dance, comedy, music and spoken word poetry.
The Plymouth Performance Festival takes place on Saturday, May 23, with four exciting shows created and performed by South West artists.
The festival, produced by Performance Plymouth, exists to showcase all sorts of performances created throughout the region every summer and is staged in different venues.
This year the shows take place over one day in the Barbican Theatre, which is supporting as part of its artist development Pathways programme.
The festival will feature two double bills across the evening. The first features spoken word poetry in A Way With Words, by author, podcaster and MS advocate Robert Gillett, who performs as Beneath The Tracksuit.
It is paired with the dance piece On Girlhood by Dartmoor-based dancer, choreographer and artist Millie Parker.
The second double bill featured comedy with one-person theatre show Murder She Tried To Write by Cornish actor, writer and “what-if merchant” Chelsea Vincent.
That will be coupled with another comedy show, called Marina and The Diamantes, by comic Marina O’Shea, formerly part of well-regarded sketch duo O’Shea and O’Gaukroger.
“We always want to celebrate the incredible talent there is here in Devon and Cornwall,” said Kate Ellis, one of the organisers of the festival.
“These four artists capture the variety of the poets, dancers, theatre makers and comedians who are making unique shows for audiences.
“There will be something for everyone and we hope the day will encourage people to see at least two different kinds of performance together.”
Beneath The Tracksuit’s A Way With Words is described as “a spoken word show that blends poetry, storytelling and lived experience, delivered with warmth, humour and honesty”.
The performance moves between light, relatable moments and deeper reflections on mental health, disability and everyday struggles.
Described by audiences as “whimsical”, “chaotic” and “relatable” Parker’s On Girlhood is a
contemporary dance and physical theatre work which aims to answer the question “how does your idea of what it means to be a woman change as you grow up?”.
Murder She Tried To Write is an ambitious and funny show that “examines the tiny revelations that add up to one culprit-neurodivergence”.
Vincent asks “What is it like to discover that you could be neurodivergent as a fully grown adult, and what has Angela Lansbury’s iconic character Jessica Fletcher got to do with it?”
Marina and The Diamantes wraps the evening up with “sparkle, silliness, and just a touch of chaos”. In the show, Marina and her trusty accomplices Lizi and Juliet serve up a whirlwind of stand-up alongside character comedy, sketches, and musical numbers “that are equal parts clever and ridiculous”.
Helen Thomas, another organiser of the festival, said: “Plymouth Performance works to create opportunities for local writers from the early stages of making a show through to performances that are ready for audiences.
“We’re thrilled to have a mix of artists on the line up whose work-in-progress we have supported before alongside people we are showcasing with for the first time.”
Tickets are now on sale with special offers for those who want to see all four shows. A Way With Words and On Girlhood starts at 6pm, and Murder She Tried To Write and Marina and The Diamantes is from 8.15pm.
Tickets are available at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/plymouth-performance-weekender-tickets-1987684651299
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